Plot Synopsis

Withnail and I is a classic English comedy set in the final months of the 1960s about two friends who head off to the countryside to help clear their minds.

Withnail (Richard E. Grant) and I (Paul McGann) are both unemployed actors who share a squalid apartment in the city. They pass their days by consuming massive amounts of alcohol and various drugs while struggling to stave off the cold and poverty. In an attempt to cleanse their systems they head off for a weekend in the country at a cottage owned by Withnail's homosexual Uncle Monty (Richard Griffiths). Right from the beginning their weekend begins to go horribly wrong and the situation is placed under further stress when Monty turns up to join them.

This classic English comedy has gained a dedicated cult following by fans all around the world. If you have ever lived in squalid shared housing or have continually recovered from a hangover by getting drunk again there will be something in this film you will be able to identify with.

Transfer Quality

Video

The transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.66:1 and it is not 16x9 enhanced.

The transfer is always quite soft and never reveals high levels of detail. No low-level noise was detected. The image displays very poor shadow detail with little information visible during the numerous dark scenes. This lack of shadow detail is very distracting.

The colour palette is always quite muted, but this helps to capture the depressing environment in which the film is set. Compared to the R1 version, this transfer shows an obvious reduction in saturation.

No MPEG artefacts were detected.

A single instance of aliasing may be seen at 0:04 but this is not disruptive.

There are a large number of film artefacts to be seen. Some examples: 0:21, 0:46, 1:36, 1:41 and 3:07. Due to their frequency these artefacts are quite irritating. There is some very obvious film grain and at times this becomes slightly distracting. Some small instances of telecine wobble may be seen at 20:12, 23:24, 24:34, 67:56 and 72:38, but due to their short duration they are only minimally annoying.

Unfortunately no subtitles are included on this disc.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness

Shadow Detail

Colour

Grain/Pixelization

Film-To-Video Artefacts

Film Artefacts

Overall

Audio

A single Dolby Digital 192 kbps 2.0 mono soundtrack is provided on the disc.

During the transfer the dialogue is often slightly muffled but is still able to be easily understood.

A very short dropout in the audio is present at 10:42, this is due to obvious damage to the source material. This dropout is also present on the R1 release. No obvious problems with audio sync were detected.

The original musical score by David Dundas and Rick Wentworth is supplemented by a number of popular tracks from the period, such as Jimi Hendrix 'All Along The Watchtower', and this always suits the on-screen action.

The surround and LFE channels were not used during the transfer.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue

Audio Sync

Clicks/Pops/Dropouts

Surround Channel Use

Subwoofer

Overall

Extras

No extras are included on this disc.

Menu

The non-animated menu is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1.

Censorship

There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view
non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually
also NTSC compatible.

The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on:

5.1 soundtrack (R2)

Audio Commentary by Paul McGannI and Ralph BrownDanny (R2)

Documentary: Withnail & Us (R1, R2)

Photo Gallery by Ralph Steadman (R1, R2)

Theatrical Trailer (R1, R2)

Poster by Ralph Steadman (R1, R2)

The Region 1 Criterion version of this disc misses out on:

5.1 soundtrack (R2)

Audio Commentary by Paul McGannI and Ralph BrownDanny (R2)

The UK Region 2 version of this disc misses out on:

Nothing

Due to the commentary track the R2 release is clearly the version of choice for fans of the film. Unfortunately none of the versions currently available is presented with a 16x9 enhanced transfer.

Summary

Withnail & I is a quirky English comedy that has attracted a group of dedicated fans over the years.

The video transfer is very disappointing with extremely poor shadow detail and numerous film artefacts.

The Dolby Digital 2.0 mono soundtrack is an accurate representation of the original source material.